Poker tables were distributed around the large area, with players occupying seats in front of them, all in different stages of betting their life savings away.
I followed Nico down the stairs, observing the obvious illegal gaming hall. A card game ended, and as the players stood, all five lit a cigarette and headed to the corner of the room.
“Are they not allowed to smoke at the tables?” I asked Nico.
“They can. Most times it’s a tell so they wait until the game’s over.”
Interesting.
I liked to know weird stuff like this.
I fired questions at him all the way to his office, from how much the House made in one night (roughly twenty grand) to why there were only two women (they were distracting).
The gambling was serious enough that distractions weren’t wanted in any way. Nobody paid me an ounce of attention as we walked toward the back of the room. The men at the tables were statues of concentration, and the ones smoking were sweating from their losses or too busy texting about their winnings.
His office was a perfect square with a blue, stylish couch, a mahogany desk with a couple chairs in front of it, a flat-screen TV, and a minibar. I set my clutch on the glass coffee table, while he pushed a button on his keyboard to get the computer started.
The walls were concrete, but with the gold and blue oriental rug and nothing but one piece of artwork on the wall, the room was somehow warm and comfortable.
I studied the painting that sat behind a shiny piece of glass. Pastel colors and bold yet refined sweeps of a brush. I wasn’t an artistic person like my sister, but I recognized the work. I’d watched a documentary about the downfall of modern art. That what we consider art today is a poor example of the talent and heart of art in the past.
“I didn’t take you to have a soft spot for Monet,” I said, glancing at him.
His attention was on his computer, but a small smile pulled on his lips. He stood with one hand braced on the desk while hitting keys with the other. Either he had this place under his command much like a mad scientist with their destructive red buttons, or he was a very unproductive typist.
“My mamma was a fan.”
My stomach warmed at the deep way mamma rolled off his lips. “She had good taste.”
He laughed quietly. A bitter note showed through, and he wiped his amusement away with a palm like he’d just realized what he’d done. It felt like I was about to wade into deep waters, but I couldn’t stop myself from going deeper.
I raised a brow. “You don’t like Monet?”
“I have it in my office, don’t I?”
“That’s not why you have it in here.”
His shoulders tensed, and he pushed his keys a little harder. “You analyzing me?”
I gazed at the soft, pastel strokes in the painting. “There’s a saying amongst us women: Don’t trust a man who isn’t good to his mamma.”
His gaze burned into my cheek. “You think I was bad to my mother?”
I wasn’t sure how I recognized I wouldn’t get to know him easily, that I might have to get him worked up to do so. He wasn’t someone to sit around and share his past with others, his fiancée included. I needed to know the man I would marry. There was a part of me that just wanted to know, so I lifted a shoulder. My heart danced at the unfamiliar game I was playing.
“Am I supposed to think differently?”
He let out an unamused breath, but he didn’t say another word. He didn’t try to defend himself, and my stomach tightened with the need to assure him that wasn’t what I thought. Was it?
An itch began in my throat to apologize for what I’d insinuated as he walked across the office to leave, and I turned to see him open the door.
“James will be right outside if you need something. Stay here. I shouldn’t be gone long.”
“Nico, wait. I shouldn’t have said—”
Nicolas called into the hallway for a Lucky. Glancing back at me, he said, “No, you’re right. You shouldn’t trust me. I’ve already lied to you since we’ve been in this room.”
I swallowed. “About what?”
He paused with a hand on the doorknob. “I always just say she was a fan. It’s much easier to say than to explain that she was always so high she couldn’t tell a Monet from a fucking caricature painted on the street.”
“True love stories never have endings.”
—Richard Bach
THE DOOR SHUT BEHIND HIM, and I was convinced I was the worst person in the world at that moment. I had no idea about his mother. I’d assumed she’d died of cancer or some other illness, but now I wondered if it was an illness at all. I had imagined that in his family, the woman would be the only reliable and steady person to lean on. He didn’t even have that.
This painting had been his mamma’s, and he’d kept it even though she was probably far from the best parent.
He was good to his mamma.
I needed a drink.
As I took my time making a gin and tonic, a kid of fifteen or sixteen stepped in. Once he shut the door, he stood beside it with a stoic expression. I had a James in the hall and this must be Lucky. The nickname had conjured an image of a beefy man with a shamrock tattoo, not a boy. My fiancé must be initiating this kid, poor thing.
I smiled. “Hello. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”
“Matteo, but everyone calls me Lucky,” he said, slipping his hands into his suit pants pockets.
“Why do they call you Lucky?”
“I suppose because I’m lucky, ma’am.”
A bit of amusement rose in me. “Nice to meet you, Lucky. I’m Elena, but you probably already know who I am, considering you’re my babysitter and all.”
He laughed a slightly uncomfortable laugh.
I flicked the TV on and got settled on the couch. For twenty minutes, I watched the news and sipped my drink, with the intermittent commotion from outside and the electro beat pulsing through the ceiling. Nico better be confident his gaming hall wouldn’t be busted while I sat in his office. Though, it wasn’t exactly a real worry of mine. An FBI agent showed up to his parties; I was sure he had the rest of the force in his pocket.
I sighed. Lucky had only been quietly standing by the door like the good Made Man in training he was. I grabbed a pack of cards off the coffee table and turned the box in my hands.
“Lucky, would you like to play cards with me?”
“Oh, well,”—he ran a hand across the back of his neck—“I’m no Ace.”
My brows knitted, unsure of what he meant. “I just thought cards would be a good alternative to us both dying of boredom.”
He chuckled. “Um . . .”
“Or are you not allowed to?” How strict was my fiancé with his men?
A corner of his lips lifted. “I’m only supposed to look in your direction when you speak to me.”
I guess that answers that . . .
With a sigh, he said, “One game.”
He didn’t sound so sure, and I hesitated because I didn’t want to get him in trouble. But he was already walking to the couch, and the truth was, I didn’t want to sit in silence any longer.
“Are you related to Nico?” I asked.